In Her Image
by Blu Rose
Summary: She thought it had been Lillie that she saw that night at Wela Volcano Park. She knew that thing wasn't her. But she couldn't help seeing it as her. (Oneshot) (Warning! Spoilers for Pokemon Sun and Moon inside! Read at your own risk!)


**Warning! This story contains spoilers to the Pokémon Sun and Moon postgame content and also the main game! If you haven't finished the game yet and you don't want to be spoiled, I suggest not reading.**

 **On another note, I have no idea why, but I wound up really liking Lilly. I was sad to see her leave at the end of the game's story. You can see this story as shipping or as a girl missing a close friend she only recently got to know-I didn't really have anything particular in mind beyond Nihelgo's minor resemblance to Lillie. (I don't know what the heck the ship name for this pairing is, anyway.)**

 _Disclaimer: Blu Rose doesn't own the Pokémon series. Only this fic._

 _Summary: She thought it had been Lillie, but to her dismay, it wasn't._

 _Note: Don't mind our protagonist being named Stella. That's just the name I used for the character in my Moon playthrough.  
_

 **X-X-X**

" _Stella… Can I ask you a question?"_ _I looked away from the gaggle of Exeggcute I found myself staring at to look at Lillie. She was staring out of the cave we had shacked up in to avoid the rain, too, but she had a far-off look in her eyes. "When you're finished with your island trials, what do you plan to do?"_

" _What's with that sort of question, asking me about my life goals?" I spoke in mock-annoyance, puffing up cheeks. "Way to make me feel pressured about the future, Lillie!"_

" _Ah! Sorry! Although…it's a little nice to know that even you have no immediate idea of what you're going to do next."_

 _My expression went back to normal. "Don't be sorry. I don't really know about what I'd do, but…I wanna travel!" I said with a smile. "I wanna see all of Kanto and Johto and all the regions in the world!"_

" _Oh, I see…" Lillie looked at me and smiled. "What I want to do is be Pokémon a trainer! A strong one, like you!"_

 _I smiled as well and began blushing. "Aw, you're embarrassing me!"_

" _And…if it's possible, I want to travel to other regions alongside of you."_

 **X-X-X**

I hadn't really wanted to take part in this whole "Ultra Beasts" affair. The image of what happened to Lillie's mother was still ingrained in my mind. My usual happy-go-lucky attitude couldn't help but decrease around those disturbing creatures. But someone had to stop it, and maybe because of all that I had done in a short month's time, that someone had to be me. Oh, sure, they were as much victims of Lusamine's madness as anyone else, but they were still disturbing.

My target was the Ultra Beast that had been codenamed "Symbiont" by the International Police and "Nihilego" by the Aether Foundation. It was mandatory that it be captured, they said, for both its safety as well as the safety of the people of Alola. I'd even been given a special kind of Poké Ball to use.

I wound up heading to Wela Volcano Park after searching around in Diglett's Tunnel. I searched around in the grass and walked around the volcano until I saw something that made me stop walking and stare in surprise. _Lillie_. I saw Lillie standing several feet away, near a cliff and staring up at the crescent moon. I only recognized her by the big floppy hat that she was wearing. Her hair was down and seemed to be moving in the wind. But it _couldn't_ have been Lillie. It wasn't that long ago that she had left for Kanto.

My body didn't agree with my mind, though, and I wound up approaching "Lillie". She remained still and silent as she looked up at the moon, her back turned to me. I raised a hand to touch her back, and my body became paralyzed when my fingers touched her. Lillie's voice filled my mind, the volume increasing as time went on. I fell to my knees, holding onto my aching head. "Lillie…! Help…!" I couldn't help crying out her name, even though I was sure that this wasn't her.

At the sound of my voice, "Lillie" turned around to look at me with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes were empty and her mouth formed a thin line. I reached out to touch her and she made an inhuman sound. The noise seemed to break the illusion and I could see the faker for what they really were. Floating in front of me, bathed in pale moonlight was the Ultra Beast I'd been looking for in the first place: the Nihilego.

I stared in shock as it floated in front of me. The Ultra Beast didn't attack or try to possess me, like I expected it to. It just floated there, as if observing me. I suddenly found the strength in me to stand up and back away, reaching for one of my Poké Balls. But the Nihilego followed, floating just inches away from me. It cried out once more, its tentacles moving and twisting towards me. I stepped away from the Beast to avoid getting touched. That seemed to disappoint it, because it made a sad-sounding noise and retracted its tentacles before using them to hug itself. Then it turned around to face the moon once more. The Nihilego raised its tentacles up to the sky, like it wanted to touch the moon. I didn't know what to feel. Here was this dangerous creature, doing nothing but staring at the moon and…and…

And acting like a girl scorned by someone they admired and trying to keep up a tough front. It didn't look like the scared creature or rampaging beast that those cops talked about. It seemed like something too enamored by our world to want to do anything other than admire it. It seemed… _human_.

I almost didn't want to capture it, but it had to be done. I took out the Beast Ball, the device feeling odd in my hands because of the things sticking out of it. The Nihilego turned around to "look" at me once more. It made a gesture with its tentacles, as if wanting to reach out and touch me. I held out the hand that was holding the Beast Ball, ready to throw it and capture the Ultra Beast. The moonlight must have been playing tricks on me, because I thought I was seeing Lillie holding her arms out to me, her eyes reflecting a look of longing. A longing for contact. A longing to be held and loved. Were those the feelings of this Beast? Or was that just what I wanted from the illusion in front of me? "Lillie" wrapped her arms around me and stared into my eyes. Then she disappeared in a flash of light and the Beast Ball fell to the ground. It barely shook once before clicking, signaling that Nihilego had been caught.

I crouched down to pick up the Poké Ball. The image of Lillie remained in my head and I couldn't help myself from tearing up.

 **X-X-X**

"Are you sure you don't want to keep the Symbiont— I mean, Nihilego?" Miss Anabel asked as I handed her the Beast Ball.

"Pokémon are like people. Sometimes, they've got a personality that clashes with a trainer. We wouldn't get along."

Anabel nodded and slipped the ball into her pocket, saying, "Very well. We'll make contact when another Ultra Beast sighting has been established. Have a nice day, Stella."

"You, too."

I left the motel, still feeling an ache in my chest. It was a lie when I said I couldn't get along with the Nihilego. If anything, I think it was eager to love me—or rather, to be with me. And I had been so close to accepting it. I don't know if it intended to possess me or something more, but I felt like our bond wouldn't be a healthy one.

Not if the memory of its touch made me consider naming it "Lillie".


End file.
